It’s weird. I was moved to open my Bible and pray a verse or chapter that was there on the page I opened to. I usually read the Bible on my phone, but I felt the need to have the paper pages under my fingers, and so there we were.
This weekend isn’t going quite as I planned. Not that I really planned anything, but let’s just say it is a little off the rails. And I was feeling a bit sorry for myself. A little voice in my head said, “Pray, Mary. Give it to God.” So I did.
I opened my Bible to Isaiah 40. Not on purpose, but by chance. Also happens to be one of my favorite chapters in the Bible. For a few of reasons.
1. Comfort. The first word is Comfort. Comfort. Isn’t that what every “off the rails” situation needs?
2. Isaiah 40 is also featured in Handel’s Messiah. Tenor recitative and aria. I equate it with my dad. Always. I’m pretty sure the first time I heard the chapter was from my dad’s mouth. I didn’t know what any of this stuff meant. It was just Daddy singing words. Isaiah 40 = dad.
3. Foretelling the coming of Christ. John the Baptist was the voice in the wilderness, exclaiming that a messiah is coming…is here. Isaiah lived 740 years before the birth of Christ! A lot of what Isaiah prophesied matches the stories in the Gospels. The book of the prophet Isaiah is one of my favorites because it tells the story before the story occurred. And, some of the poetry is incredible. No wonder Handel chose so much of it for Messiah.
I seek, from time to time, comfort in literature…whether contemporary trash or ancient prophecy. Today I felt drawn to The Bible and I think it’s no coincidence that Isaiah 40 was where the book fell open. I needed my dad and my heavenly father.
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